Sober Ninja
by sarmad88
Summary: What if Mizuki realized that Naruto might not be the best choice for stealing the scroll of forbidden seals? What if Naruto really did fail the genin exam a third time and had to retake the final year of the academy? No one could have foreseen his fate


Disclaimer: I will never own this multi-million dollar franchise but that won't stop be from writing! Please review it keeps me typing faster and faster, holy shit I think I time traveled into the future. Author Alert me for my newer works!

…

Mizuki thought long and hard about this plan. Should he really send Naruto after the scroll? Uzumaki Naruto the dead last of the academy? The kid wore an orange jumpsuit because he thought it would make him a badass among ninjas?

He snorted; more like it would get his ass whooped when the enemy spotted him, hell a blind man would spot that orange beacon.

He didn't know why he got this idea in his head, it was just that after seeing the boy's twin dead bunshins he just couldn't put his faith in the kid to actually deliver the bloody scroll.

Rubbing his temples he thought about another alternative. This was going to be a long day and he'll probably have to trick some other kid to do it for him, his mind raced towards all the most insecure people in the academy.

Then a light bulb went off.

"Perhaps I should visit that Hyuuga girl…"

…

Depression is a terrible thing.

Uzumaki Naruto had been dealing with this disorder all his life, if anyone really cared they would probably realize he should have seen a clinical psychologist long ago however the populace at large cared little for the state of affairs within the adolescent's heart.

It was a dark and lonely night, the celestial stars above the skies shone bright; Naruto stared at them hoping for a shooting star.

Maybe if he wished hard enough he could wake up and realize it had all been a nightmare, that he hadn't failed a third time.

As he watched the night sky falling and the early morning sun rising, he felt twin trickles fall down his eyes. He didn't know when exactly he had started crying but really it didn't matter.

Sitting on his balcony, with the smallest faint of sunlight hitting the skies Naruto jumped off to the ground and made a dash for a place to be by himself.

He found an abandoned training site, it was located at the farthest reaches of Konoha near a place called the Forest of Death, and he couldn't enter said facility due to heavy electrical fences and honestly when he saw a giant centipede trying to climb the fence he didn't bother.

When he got to the site he saw lots of beer bottles and cigar buts everywhere. He scowled.

"Oi, what kind of idiot leaves trash around like this, some people have to train," he muttered.

He pulled out twin kunais and practiced hitting targets. As usual he wasn't very good and ended up missing more times than not.

Every time he missed though that depressed feeling in the back of his mind kept coming back.

It was chewing on him, and he tried to forget but it kept hitting him at full force.

"Go away!"

He tried to tell that feeling to disappear but it was like a raging demon threatening to consume him whole, he continued this game of ignoring the sinking negative feeling and threw more and more kunai, his aim getting worse.

Finally after three hours of unsuccessful training he stopped and got ready to head home.

He passed the villagers and again heard the whispers and murmurs behind his back, making him feel worse than he already did. At some point he started running down the streets only to have the voices chasing him.

Demon. Thing. Monster.

He heard it all, he had been hearing these whispers all his life but up till this point he had been focused too much on trying to graduate to let such voices affect him. Now at the event of another failed attempt he ran faster and faster.

Hoping to outrun the things he already knew inside of his heart.

He didn't know when it happened but at some point he found his way at the red light district. He had been here before during one of his pranks. Slowly walking to a stop he watched the passer by prostitutes and drunks trying to make their business this time of day.

A familiar girl with blond pig tails smiled at him and passed by swaying her shapely hips, reminding him where exactly he had gotten the prototype for his infamous jutsu.

He wandered into a familiar looking bar that he only recalled distinctly hiding in when some bad people long ago where chasing him.

When he entered the bar some people were looking at him strangely, it wasn't often a 13 year old midget walks in.

"Oi, what are you lookin' at,"

The drunks just went about their own business after the blonds' proclamation. Naruto took a seat and picked up a menu. He just realized he was pretty hungry. As he looked through it he couldn't find anything that would fit his belly.

Reaching out for his wallet he found that his pockets were empty, oh right he left it at the house. Scowling Naruto just frowned at the menu and glared daggers at some of the appetizers.

"What's up kid, you look pretty down," a fat man wearing a yellow stained white shirt proclaimed. He wobbled up next to the blond.

"I left my money at home," Naruto mumbled looking guilty.

"That's too bad, either ways I doubt you could handle anything I'd serve ya," the fat man chuckled wiping the counter in front of the blond.

Naruto glared at him "What is that supposed to mean,"

The man was startled by the boy's quick change "Nothing, it's just that-,"

"I can handle anything, you don't know me-,"

"I didn't say that, listen I don't want any trouble. You don't want to start something that you can't finish," he said holding up his hands defensively seeing the other patrons glare at the blond.

"I can finish anything, there isn't anything I can't do. You have no idea what I am capable of," Naruto said defiantly standing on the stool his anger getting the better of him.

"Now hold on, calm down kid," the bartender said.

"You don't know what it's like, you don't know what kind of shit I have to deal with, you don't know how everyone looks at me, hear them talking about me, they don't let anyone come near me, they think I am stupid, and maybe I am stupid, but it's not fair. I tried my best, I tried to pass, but I failed again," with that Naruto started sobbing and broke down on the counter.

The bar just looked at the kid for a second then shrugged and went back to their business. Now sighing, the bar tender had a dilemma. He knew how to handle this type of situation but for god's sakes the kid was 13- but then thinking about when he himself started drinking he got a mug ready.

Placing a cold mug of sake near the blond he backed away.

"Here, this one is on the house," he said and left to serve someone else.

Naruto stared at the content of the drink for a long time. He knew people who were sad drank, and he knew if they drank enough they got happy. Not being very smart Naruto held it up to his lips and took a sip.

…


End file.
